"Oh come on now, Louis." - Louisistan 2k16

[Louisistan]

Mar 1, 2016 5:33:43 GMT -5 Barry said:

Oh come on now, Louis. Just GO FOR IT, man! 

March MMXVI

Hello my dear friends.

On behalf of the Mayor Shelter Political Party, I am running for the Delegacy of the 10000 Islands. This candidacy, I'll admit that right away, was somewhat of a snap decision. Although the plan to run for Delegate had been in my head almost since my arrival in this region in the Spring of 2014, but to actually do it this time was a decision which I only made a few hours ago. So if some of this campaign seems as if I'm making it up as I go, I apologise.

For those of me who have not had so much interaction with me: I am Louisistan . I have been around these islands since May of 2014. In my time here, I have served as Deputy Senator and Senator for Lyonesse East, TITO Tactical Officer, and currently as TITO Executive Officer. I am the 79th Knight of TITO, currently stand at 80 Battle Stars and have been decorated with the Bronze Star and several campaign medals. I am also the Head of the House of Louisistan .

Why do I believe I am fit to become the next Delegate of the 10000 Islands? My experience as an officer of TITO, and my Emissary postings to Deutschland and Lazarus have given me experience and contact with our allies. I have come in contact with the diplomatic "emergencies" this game has during the Lazarus Coup of May 2015. I also think that I would be a good successor to Paffnia because we share common policy goals. We are both real-life liberals and when it comes to XKI policy, we both believe in the power of writing things into laws to make sure they are adhered to ;-)

As I said, this is a somewhat spontaneous candidacy, so I don't have more long-winded speech stuff right now. But I will do my best to answer any questions you have for me.

Yours sincerely,
Louisistan

[Isles de Taylor]

Go on, Louisistan. You would make a great delegate!

[Louisistan]

Thank you, Isles de Taylor.

[Dominion of Compassion]

You've got my endorsement! your Tito track record speaks on your behalf!

[Witchcraft and Sorcery]

Go Louis! You're f**king awesome. You've got an affinity for the kind of nitty-gritty work that I have the damnedest time finding motivation to do. I saw it when you were TO, LE senator, and firsthand when you were XO. Your track record should speak for itself, you're going to be an amazing delegate. It's people like you that really move the Islands forward and I'm proud to give you my endorsement.

[Jin]

You have my full endorsement! Make us proud!

[The Tasmanian Islands]

You have my endorsement! Yea!

[Barry]

I am very pleased to see that my verbally smacking you around a bit words of encouragement assisted you in making your decision to run for delegate. Having observed your "behind-the-scenes" dedication and efforts on behalf of TITO, as well as your positive continuous presence elsewhere in the forums, I know that you would make an excellent Delegate. Few Islanders can bring to the table the knowledge and experience you have in inter-regional NationStates affairs as you. I fully support and endorse your candidacy. Good luck, Louis.

[Icifica]

What is your stance in restoring arms to nations world wide? Should we all struggle to achieve peace?

[Louisistan]

Mar 2, 2016 8:59:36 GMT -5 Icifica said:

What is your stance in restoring arms to nations world wide? Should we all struggle to achieve peace?

I'm not sure I understand the question, but I'll try to answer:

With regards to the nations of XKI, our constitution grants every nation the right to manage their countries as they see fit. As such, whether or not they wish to achieve peace is entirely up to them.

With regard to the World Assembly, I support resolutions which seek to establish some humanitarian ground rules in war. ICly, my nation is opposed to the regulation of arms trades, as our economy is heavily based on arms manufacturing. But as Delegate, I would cast my vote according to the poll conducted here on the forums for every GA resolution, so my nations IC views will probably not come into play at that point.

Is that the answer you were looking for? Otherwise, can you rephrase the question please?

[Icifica]

Mar 2, 2016 9:13:44 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Mar 2, 2016 8:59:36 GMT -5 Icifica said:

What is your stance in restoring arms to nations world wide? Should we all struggle to achieve peace?

I'm not sure I understand the question, but I'll try to answer:

With regards to the nations of XKI, our constitution grants every nation the right to manage their countries as they see fit. As such, whether or not they wish to achieve peace is entirely up to them.

With regard to the World Assembly, I support resolutions which seek to establish some humanitarian ground rules in war. ICly, my nation is opposed to the regulation of arms trades, as our economy is heavily based on arms manufacturing. But as Delegate, I would cast my vote according to the poll conducted here on the forums for every GA resolution, so my nations IC views will probably not come into play at that point.

Is that the answer you were looking for? Otherwise, can you rephrase the question please?

No that answers it fully! I look forward to your delegation! :0

[Woonsocket]

Hard to add to the praise you've already gotten, Louis. So I'll just say I heartily endorse you. I think you will do a superb job with all the varied experience and knowledge you have. And you're no stranger to hard work, either. Go get 'em!

My name is Woonsocket and I approve this message.

[Klopstock]

Good luck, Louisistan!

[Louisistan]

Dominion of Compassion, Witchcraft and Sorcery, Jin, The Tasmanian Islands, Barry, Woonsocket, Klopstock
Thank you all for your kind words.

Icifica, thank you for the question.


If anyone wishes to show his support for my campaign, they are welcome to display my campaign banner in their signature.

BB-Code:
[img alt=" " style="max-width:100%;" src="http://i.imgur.com/2D12034.png"]

[Paffnia]

It's that time: the ol' barrage of delegate questions! Take your time, of course, with these.

WA
- Do you plan on posting WA polls on the forums like our past delegates have?
- Any thought of using the regionwide vote displayed on NS instead of a forum poll?
- In either case, will you always abide by their results when casting the region's vote? What about SC resolutions on matters concerning TITO? What about when a nation illegally mass-TGs the Islands about a proposal?
- If you do decide to vote by forum poll, are there any circumstances (other than matters concerning TITO and mass-TGs to the Islands) in which you would not be able to vote according to the poll results? In other words, are there any issues about which you feel so strongly that you could not cast a vote a certain way, due to conflict with your beliefs/conscience?
- Would you have voted for this proposal?: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/31560/ns230-mandatory-delegate-voting-rules
- If FOR and AGAINST are tied on the forum vote, what then?
- When timing your vote, will you vote as soon as possible, with a XKI discussion thread set up even earlier in an attempt to sway the vote; or wait awhile before voting to get the full spectrum of opinion from more Islanders; or something else?
- In a close and shifting forum vote on a resolution, how often will you change your vote? As soon as FOR overtakes AGAINST, for example, or wait to see if it switches back?
- Will you keep the "delegate's prerogative" option?
- Will you provide Islanders with your own views on proposal, or merely seek their input?
- Although this won't matter much if you vote based on polls, how do you align yourself in the GA? Do you side with the International Federalists or National Sovereigntists more (or some other position entirely)?
- How will you decide which WA proposals to approve for quorum? Would you do this just by your own judgment, take requests, or some other system?
- Would you create and regularly update a dispatch pinned to the WFE, with links to the most recent forum discussions of WA resolutions at vote, so that NS-going nations can find our WA discussions?


TITO
- How do you feel about 6 months off of the TITO battle field?
- Would you still come to updates?
- Would you still serve as XO?


Foreign Affairs
- What criteria would you use to choose emissaries?
- What criteria would you use to decide when to fire emissaries?
- Should XKI sign new formal alliances with regions, or just keep it at embassies?
- Will you actively seek out new regions to have embassies with?
- Currently, the emissary corps is verging on overstretched. Is lack of emissaries a valid reason to deny a new embassy with a borderline region? Or would you move to accept the embassy and then try to make do?
- Do you plan to continue the initiative of having Islanders visit friendly regions for a weekend?
- Will you appoint a foreign affairs secretary?
- Do you plan on adding your own touches to the emissaries' report, or just letting the BCN senator write it?
- Do you plan to be active on the NS forums, Gameplay and WA in particular?
- Is the informal policy of infrequent posting from a large segment of the rank-and-file of XKI in contentious threads a good thing to continue? If so, do you see your role as speaking for all of our voices on the forums, or should all of XKI, you included, stay out altogether?


Internal
- Will you endotart? Will you send messages to Islanders encouraging delegate endorsement?
- Will you post telegrams you receive, in a thread like this: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/19903?
- Will you have an office thread?
- Do you think endorsing the delegate should be mandatory?
- Would you change our current delegate term limit system, given the opportunity? If so, how?
- Will you mass-TG the Islands with updates? If so, what kind of updates and how often?
- Will you post the emissaries report in a pinned dispatch every month?
- What should be done about the recent population slump?


Take your time; I've thrown the kitchen sink out here.

[The Candy Lane]

Glad to see you are running Louisistan.

With the regional population dropping, it seems clear to me that we must find a better way to increase the number of active recruiters. As hopeful delegate, do you have any ideas in mind to help solve this issue, if so what are they?

[Louisistan]

WA
- Do you plan on posting WA polls on the forums like our past delegates have?
Yes.

- Any thought of using the regionwide vote displayed on NS instead of a forum poll?
I don't see a reason to change our current system of using forum polls.

- In either case, will you always abide by their results when casting the region's vote?
No, see below.
What about SC resolutions on matters concerning TITO?
I will consult closely with the TITO Field Commander and the rest of TITO Command. In SC matters which concern TITO, I will most likely follow their recommendation.
What about when a nation illegally mass-TGs the Islands about a proposal?
That really depends on who does it and how often they do it. A one-time offender might not attract my wrath in that way, because there is no way a new author could know about our rules concerning mass-TGs. I those cases, I would explain the rule to them. If they keep on doing it, I may indeed make use of the tools given to the Delegate by NS181-1.

- If you do decide to vote by forum poll, are there any circumstances (other than matters concerning TITO and mass-TGs to the Islands) in which you would not be able to vote according to the poll results? In other words, are there any issues about which you feel so strongly that you could not cast a vote a certain way, due to conflict with your beliefs/conscience?
Nothing pertaining to my beliefs or conscience. However, we've recently seen two resolutions discarded for rule violations after the vote. If an obviously illegal proposal would make it to vote, I would vote against.
Other than the reasons listed above, I will adhere to the forum poll.

- Would you have voted for this proposal?: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/31560/ns230-mandatory-delegate-voting-rules
I am not entirely happy with Section 3. I would have preferred it, if the determination of which resolutions fall under this section would have been made by joint decision of the Delegate and TITO Command. But I would have voted in favour anyway.

- If FOR and AGAINST are tied on the forum vote, what then?
I would vote according to the regional WA vote on the last day of voting.

- When timing your vote, will you vote as soon as possible, with a XKI discussion thread set up even earlier in an attempt to sway the vote; or wait awhile before voting to get the full spectrum of opinion from more Islanders; or something else?
I prefer to vote early. I do have RL obligations which will hinder me from voting directly during update a lot of the time. I would then vote as soon as I log in to NS after the vote starts.

- In a close and shifting forum vote on a resolution, how often will you change your vote? As soon as FOR overtakes AGAINST, for example, or wait to see if it switches back?
I would try to monitor the poll and change my vote once per day, if necessary.

- Will you keep the "delegate's prerogative" option?
Yes. And if it's invoked, I will vote according to my nations IC opinion, which might not always reflect my personal ones

- Will you provide Islanders with your own views on proposal, or merely seek their input?
When I find the time, I will try to participate in the discussions.

- Although this won't matter much if you vote based on polls, how do you align yourself in the GA? Do you side with the International Federalists or National Sovereigntists more (or some other position entirely)?
ICly my nation leans towards NatSov - but they just love bureaucracy, so will vote for anything that increases the size of the civil service.

- How will you decide which WA proposals to approve for quorum? Would you do this just by your own judgment, take requests, or some other system?
I will take requests. I also will approve proposals written by islanders (if they've been drafted on our forums).
However, if I believe the proposal would be illegal, I will not approve. If I deny a request for approval, I will give a reason for doing so.

- Would you create and regularly update a dispatch pinned to the WFE, with links to the most recent forum discussions of WA resolutions at vote, so that NS-going nations can find our WA discussions?
That seems like a good idea. Yes.

TITO
- How do you feel about 6 months off of the TITO battle field?
For this job, I am happy to take a 6 month break from the battle fields. But I'll certainly be looking forward to returning once the term is over.

- Would you still come to updates?
That remains to be seen. My update participation has been dropping for RL reasons lately. In fact, I recently switched to the EF. But if and when I can make the time, I will gladly attend.

- Would you still serve as XO?
No. I have already informed TITO Command that I would resign from my post as XO in case I am elected.

Foreign Affairs
- What criteria would you use to choose emissaries?
That depends on the region in question. In general, I'd be looking for active nations participating on our forums. For some regions, a more delicate hand is required, so I would send more experienced emissaries there. For some regions which are important defender friends, I will look for experienced TITO members.

- What criteria would you use to decide when to fire emissaries?
Failure to post our report there and/or failure to report back to XKI.

- Should XKI sign new formal alliances with regions, or just keep it at embassies?
I'm not opposed to forming new alliances. But I have no immediate proposals for regions to sign alliances with.

- Will you actively seek out new regions to have embassies with?
Yes.

- Currently, the emissary corps is verging on overstretched. Is lack of emissaries a valid reason to deny a new embassy with a borderline region? Or would you move to accept the embassy and then try to make do?
No, I do not believe that that should play a factor.

- Do you plan to continue the initiative of having Islanders visit friendly regions for a weekend?
Yes.

- Will you appoint a foreign affairs secretary?
Upon taking office (if I take office) I plan on getting an overview of the tasks at hand and try my hand in all of them. I will then decide whether I will be in need of assistance. If so, I will appoint an FA secretary.

- Do you plan on adding your own touches to the emissaries' report, or just letting the BCN senator write it?
I have no immediate plans of defacing Control 's work

- Do you plan to be active on the NS forums, Gameplay and WA in particular?
I will have a look at the Gameplay forums regularly and post when I see the need to defend XKI's name and reputation.
I plan on increasing my participation in the GA if I'm elected, but I'm not sure if I'll find the time.

- Is the informal policy of infrequent posting from a large segment of the rank-and-file of XKI in contentious threads a good thing to continue? If so, do you see your role as speaking for all of our voices on the forums, or should all of XKI, you included, stay out altogether?
That's really a decision to be made by the individual nation (and in some cases TITO Command).

Internal
- Will you endotart? Will you send messages to Islanders encouraging delegate endorsement?
Yes to both of that.

- Will you post telegrams you receive, in a thread like this: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/19903?
Yes.

- Will you have an office thread?
I already have one. I believe Stan from Building Management is squatting in my old office again, but I can throw him out.

- Do you think endorsing the delegate should be mandatory?
No. Absolutely not!

- Would you change our current delegate term limit system, given the opportunity? If so, how?
No. It works perfectly.

- Will you mass-TG the Islands with updates? If so, what kind of updates and how often?
I haven't decided on that yet. But I would probably make use of the TG powers (if Grub grants me those). Updates will most likely include Foreign Affairs and WA stuff, as that is the Delegate's prerogative. I may also include ongoing events from the forums in order to get more nations to join the forums and participate.

- Will you post the emissaries report in a pinned dispatch every month?
Yes.

- What should be done about the recent population slump?
I am not sure how to tackle the problem. I believe bringing back Recruitment Officers can be one part of a solution. 
I will consult with the MoI and the rest of the CO9 to come up with a plan to counter the current population drop. (This should also answer The Candy Lane's question).

Take your time; I've thrown the kitchen sink out here.
Do you need another sink?

[Paffnia]

Thanks for answering my questions, Louisistan. I am so thrilled to see you run, and I endorse you 100%.

Mar 1, 2016 14:35:03 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

I also think that I would be a good successor to Paffnia because we share common policy goals. We are both real-life liberals and when it comes to XKI policy, we both believe in the power of writing things into laws to make sure they are adhered to ;-)

Not only that, but I believe you share my feeling to never be content with the status quo if the status quo is inefficient or not working. XKI is always evolving and coming up with new ideas, and Louis is the creator or supporter of many of them.

Mar 3, 2016 14:51:12 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Take your time; I've thrown the kitchen sink out here.
Do you need another sink?

I mean, if you're offering...

[Anime Daisuki]

Mar 3, 2016 10:59:21 GMT -5 Paffnia said:

It's that time: the ol' barrage of delegate questions! Take your time, of course, with these.

SPOILER: Click to show

WA
- Do you plan on posting WA polls on the forums like our past delegates have?
- Any thought of using the regionwide vote displayed on NS instead of a forum poll?
- In either case, will you always abide by their results when casting the region's vote? What about SC resolutions on matters concerning TITO? What about when a nation illegally mass-TGs the Islands about a proposal?
- If you do decide to vote by forum poll, are there any circumstances (other than matters concerning TITO and mass-TGs to the Islands) in which you would not be able to vote according to the poll results? In other words, are there any issues about which you feel so strongly that you could not cast a vote a certain way, due to conflict with your beliefs/conscience?
- Would you have voted for this proposal?: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/31560/ns230-mandatory-delegate-voting-rules
- If FOR and AGAINST are tied on the forum vote, what then?
- When timing your vote, will you vote as soon as possible, with a XKI discussion thread set up even earlier in an attempt to sway the vote; or wait awhile before voting to get the full spectrum of opinion from more Islanders; or something else?
- In a close and shifting forum vote on a resolution, how often will you change your vote? As soon as FOR overtakes AGAINST, for example, or wait to see if it switches back?
- Will you keep the "delegate's prerogative" option?
- Will you provide Islanders with your own views on proposal, or merely seek their input?
- Although this won't matter much if you vote based on polls, how do you align yourself in the GA? Do you side with the International Federalists or National Sovereigntists more (or some other position entirely)?
- How will you decide which WA proposals to approve for quorum? Would you do this just by your own judgment, take requests, or some other system?
- Would you create and regularly update a dispatch pinned to the WFE, with links to the most recent forum discussions of WA resolutions at vote, so that NS-going nations can find our WA discussions?


TITO
- How do you feel about 6 months off of the TITO battle field?
- Would you still come to updates?
- Would you still serve as XO?


Foreign Affairs
- What criteria would you use to choose emissaries?
- What criteria would you use to decide when to fire emissaries?
- Should XKI sign new formal alliances with regions, or just keep it at embassies?
- Will you actively seek out new regions to have embassies with?
- Currently, the emissary corps is verging on overstretched. Is lack of emissaries a valid reason to deny a new embassy with a borderline region? Or would you move to accept the embassy and then try to make do?
- Do you plan to continue the initiative of having Islanders visit friendly regions for a weekend?
- Will you appoint a foreign affairs secretary?
- Do you plan on adding your own touches to the emissaries' report, or just letting the BCN senator write it?
- Do you plan to be active on the NS forums, Gameplay and WA in particular?
- Is the informal policy of infrequent posting from a large segment of the rank-and-file of XKI in contentious threads a good thing to continue? If so, do you see your role as speaking for all of our voices on the forums, or should all of XKI, you included, stay out altogether?


Internal
- Will you endotart? Will you send messages to Islanders encouraging delegate endorsement?
- Will you post telegrams you receive, in a thread like this: 10000islands.proboards.com/thread/19903?
- Will you have an office thread?
- Do you think endorsing the delegate should be mandatory?
- Would you change our current delegate term limit system, given the opportunity? If so, how?
- Will you mass-TG the Islands with updates? If so, what kind of updates and how often?
- Will you post the emissaries report in a pinned dispatch every month?
- What should be done about the recent population slump?


Take your time; I've thrown the kitchen sink out here.

I have a self serving question which should totally be added to Paff's giant list.


- Will you as Delegate make a promise to defend WA resolutions passed by natives against repeals from non-XKI sources? (With exception of Libs that are no longer needed?)



-AD

[Louisistan]

Mar 4, 2016 6:36:29 GMT -5 Anime Daisuki said:

I have a self serving question which should totally be added to Paff's giant list.


- Will you as Delegate make a promise to defend WA resolutions passed by natives against repeals from non-XKI sources? (With exception of Libs that are no longer needed?)



-AD

Well, that's an interesting one. I suppose if it comes to that, I would consult with the author of the original resolution if possible and try to work with them. However, in the final vote, I would abide by the forum poll, except the cases discussed in the answers to Paff's questions.

Note that that may not apply in all cases. E.g. when someone has his commendation repealed for good reason (cf. Repeal Commend A Mean old Man) an that commendation happens to be authored by an islander, I would probably still support a repeal. The same goes for SC resolutions where TITO Command recommends to repeal.

[Aersoldorf]

Argh, liberals. Can't live with them and can't shoot them without going to jail and/or hell.

That being said, Louis is being a bit modest regarding his qualifications. One of the duties of our Delegate is to get polls posted about WA resolutions. During my term as Delegate, Louis was instrumental in helping make sure that this was done. He formatted everything for me so that I could copy and paste, thus making my job easier. I told him then, and I'll repeat it now - he's a natural for this position. I will gladly cast my vote for him when I step into the ballot booth, and I hope that you will too.

[Markanite]

Good luck Louisistan!

[Louisistan]

Mar 4, 2016 22:09:14 GMT -5 Aersoldorf said:

Argh, liberals. Can't live with them and can't shoot them without going to jail and/or hell.

And yet, here we are, always ready to defend your right to say stuff like this

Thank you both, Aersoldorf and Markanite.

[Louisistan]

Does anyone have more questions for me? Klopstock? Anybody?

[Klopstock]

Mar 6, 2016 12:37:11 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Does anyone have more questions for me? Klopstock? Anybody?

Will you be tagging us less when you're delegate?

[Timothia]

Do you have any big ideas, ambitions, or changes that you would pursue as Delegate? Particularly pertaining to foreign affairs (cuz that's what affects me )

[Louisistan]

Mar 6, 2016 14:22:12 GMT -5 Klopstock said:

Mar 6, 2016 12:37:11 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

Does anyone have more questions for me? Klopstock? Anybody?

Will you be tagging us less when you're delegate?

certainly not!

[Louisistan]

Mar 6, 2016 14:29:04 GMT -5 Timothia said:

Do you have any big ideas, ambitions, or changes that you would pursue as Delegate? Particularly pertaining to foreign affairs (cuz that's what affects me )

Foreign Affairs always takes two parties. So I'd rather not go on a limb and announce foreign policy now.
As far as the RIA is concerned, I will keep a close eye on the ongoing reboot and hope to work closely with the new government.

[Brandenbourg-Anhalt]

You have my full support, Louisistan!

[Elite]

Mar 3, 2016 14:51:12 GMT -5 Louisistan said:

If an obviously illegal proposal would make it to vote, I would vote against.

If it was obviously illegal, the mods would have removed it already.